Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Conference Track

Marketing Management/ Strategy/ Branding

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

Contrary to belief, employees are NOT having fun yet. In fact, 73% of all employees are dissatisfied with their jobs (Crabtree, 2013). The reasons are many, but the underlying reason is that they are not having any fun! (Clark, 2009; Ford, McLaughlin, & Newstrom, 2003a; Kinjerski & Skrypnek, 2006). We believe that a fun and engaging workplace impacts employee engagement, morale, productivity and safety (Bedeian & Armenakis, 1998; Boyatzis, Smith, & Beveridge, 2012; 2013). We also believe that creating a fun atmosphere at work is accomplished only when management has fun (Bolton, Houlihan, & Renee Baptiste, 2009; CHI, CHUNG, & TSAI, 2011; Moberg, 2000). The thinking is that if management is having fun, then employees will have fun. One way to create that fun is through mentoring. We believe that managers who mentor not only provide “a continuation of knowledge and help to junior colleagues”, but also receive personal satisfaction and “exhilaration from the fresh energy provided by the protégés” (Allen, 2007). Unfortunately, this specific area has received very little attention in academia (Boyatzis et al., 2012), and is the basis of this study

About the Authors

Anthony Scardillo, MBA is a Visiting Instructor at the Huether School of Business, The College of Saint Rose, Albany, NY. He teaches Business, Management and Marketing courses as part of the school’s Management Department. Prior to joining the faculty as a full-time instructor, Scardillo served as an Adjunct Instructor at the school for over ten years. He has also taught at Cazenovia College in Syracuse, NY and Siena College in Loudonville, NY.

Scardillo is an award-winning advertising, marketing and business professional with over 30 years of experience in international, national, regional, state and local advertising, marketing and sales. He will receive his Doctorate of Management (DM) degree this May from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. His research focuses on improving the workplace environment by creating fun and engaging cultures for employees. You will often hear him lament “Are We Having Fun Yet!?”

Scardillo, who received his MBA from The College of Saint Rose in 2011, served as President of the Albany Ad Club, a 400-member association of advertising and marketing professionals in the Capital Region. He also served as Communications Committee Chair on the Alumni Board for The Albany Academy. He currently is a member of the Academy of Management, volunteers at a local homeless shelter, and counsels obese people on healthy lifestyle choices. He is married and has two grown daughters. In his spare time, Scardillo likes to tinker with his 1966 Volkswagen Beetle.

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